The Trump administration is planning to announce a list of companies it suspects of already working on or planning to work on the Nord Stream 2 project in the coming days to warn them that they might fall under new American sanctions against the pipeline, Reuters reported, citing two anonymous sources. According to the news outlet, this is the second time Washington has tried to determine potential partners of the project and caution them against helping to lay pipes for it, issuing insurance for the equipment, or certifying the resulting pipeline.
Among the companies on the list is Zurich Insurance Group, Reuters' sources claim. The company responded to the report by saying it is ready to fully comply with regulations, but declined to comment if it was working or planning to work on Nord Stream 2 and whether or not this work would be interrupted by the US sanctions threat.
"Zurich has a comprehensive compliance framework in place and is committed to fully comply with any applicable sanctions regulations. We do not comment on specific customer relationships", Zurich Insurance Group stated.
US Crackdown on Joint Russian-European Project
The US has long opposed the construction of the project under the pretext of claiming Moscow will use it as leverage against Europe due to its dependence on gas. Both Europe and Russia have dismissed the allegation, insisting that the project, undertaken using the money of both Gazprom and several European energy giants, is a purely commercial one.
Most EU countries, including Germany, the main defender of the pipeline, have stated that European gas supplies are well diversified. However, Washington has insisted that the EU should buy more expensive American or Israeli liquefied natural gas instead of the Russian natural gas. The US has already introduced sanctions that forced the company Allseas to withdraw its pipelaying vessel from the project. Another batch of sanctions was included in the recently approved US Defence Authorisation Bill and is currently waiting to be implemented. It will reportedly contain measures against certification and insurance companies helping to finish the nearly-complete pipeline.
Around 100km of Nord Stream 2 remains to be built, or around 10% of its overall length. Once complete, the pipeline will almost double the amount of gas Russia can pump to Europe. US and European leaders expressed concern that it might deprive Ukraine of transit fees for transporting another portion of Russia's gas to Europe. President Vladimir Putin has sought to assuage concerns by assuring that the Ukrainian gas transportation systems will still be used even after Nord Stream 2 is launched.
